Chapter 200 The Dead Man's Name

• RONAN
• “Alpha… Alpha…” Mace called my name, not once but five times, his voice carrying a sharper edge each time, trying to wrench me back from the invisible tether that bound my gaze to the Academy. The building loomed far off in the heart of the Black Pine Forest, its silhouette jagged against the dim horizon like a beast keeping secrets in its gut. While I stood deep within the border woods, shadows clinging to my shoulders, as though they knew the storm stirring inside me. Mace had insisted I meet him here urgently, yet my attention kept drifting elsewhere, pulled by something I could not ignore.
• “Is something wrong, Alpha?” he pressed, tone wary.